As fast as we move into the future, creating new methods and means to better our everyday lives, it is still important to remember the wisdom of the past. 

Although many of the remedies and recipes contained within are hopelessly outdated and have been replaced by modern ideas and science, they still serve a purpose.  They allow us the opportunity to examine the roots of our modern ideas, and thus be able to more fully explore the movement of human knowledge.

From this perspective, such old fashioned remedies and recipies become an indispensable living example of history.

Besides, many of them are fascinating in their utility.  Sometimes modernity is an exercise in excess, and many of these methods, although simpler in scope, have been proven just as effective through centuries of use.